NaNoWriMo2015 Oneshot Colletction

In the time it had taken the original trio to grab both Starlight’s message and Moonlight herself, it seemed that the guard had figured out who had cast the spell, as well as where they were. There was a pair of Royal Guards standing in the waiting room, just outside the doors into the back. This wasn’t the City Police Guard, or the even the Equestrian National Police Guard, but a full Elite Equestrian Royal Guard.

That didn’t bode well in the slightest to Neutral. Huge, imposing stallions in armour weren’t a good thing to begin with, but the fact that those two looked like they’d at least partially been chosen specifically for the intimidation factor.

Moonlight, however, seemed to be unaffected by the sight of the huge stallions. She walked unhesitatingly up to the front desk, Event and Flux following behind, forcing Neutral to hurry up to catch up to the other three after he realized he’d slowed down to gawk.

He got up just in time to hear the receptionist’s answer to whatever Moonlight had just asked. “I’m sorry, but Starlight Dancer has been quarantined and her files sealed by order of the Princesses.”

There was a sudden sense of absolute calm radiating off Moonlight with those words. It was the sort of air that Neutral rarely saw ponies have. It was a similar type of air he’d seen Starlight or Flux have just before they exploded. The aura practically screamed ‘calm before the storm’. When she spoke, her tone was just as forebodingly calm and level. “Is that so? I’m sure I must have missed something, but as next of kin, in the event of an incapacitating injury or illness, I have every right to know what’s going on unless expressly locked out by Starlight beforehoof. Was I expressly locked out?”

The receptionist seemed to get the same feeling that Neutral was. The feeling that she’d better have a damn good answer for Moonlight. “Ma’am, the seal says everypony. It overrides other legislation and is a Royal Decree. If you wish to see her, you must talk to the Princesses,” she explained quickly, eyes darting around.

Moonlight nodded slowly. “Of course,” she said, still far too calm. “And is there a reason given for this seal?”

“Um… well…” the pony said, somehow looking even more nervous. “That’s actually been sealed too…”

There was an exceptionally long pause, before Moonlight spoke, that calm, level tone suddenly becoming darker, and a whole lot scarier to Neutral, and he wasn’t even the one it was directed at. “You tell the guard that if they try and do anything to her for Forbidden magic without due process, I will ensure the entire world knows. And before you say I have no way of knowing, let me ask you this: How hard is a last second memory transfer to a preselected target using preselected memories?”

The receptionist looked confused, but Neutral paled. “Anypony that has basic competency in Mental Magic would find it easy. Adding a little array coding here and there would make it virtually impossible to erase,” Flux explained to the receptionist, sporting a similar expression to Neutral. “Basically, what she’s promising is that if they try anything, then something embarrassing to the Crown will be released on a nearly unstoppable memory wave.”

“Threatening,” the receptionist corrected.

“Promising,” Moonlight argued right back. “A threat is something you don’t intend to follow through on, and I can guarantee you that the array she needs to carry that out is already in place. Now, thank you for your help and passing that message along, but I really should let the rest of my family know what’s going on.”

With that she turned around, and Neutral blinked, quickly looking around, realizing he’d been watching the back and forth like a tennis match. As he turned to follow Starlight, he found a pair of rather burly looking guards standing right behind them. “Come with us, please,” the big unicorn on the left ordered. Though the words were phrased like a question, there was no mistaking the tone.

Moonlight, still looking very tightly coiled and controlled, smiled at them. “And if I don’t?”

The earther on the right tensed at Moonlight’s words, though the unicorn didn’t appear overly worried. “You will come with us. You have just threatened a government official, are in league with a pony known to use Forbidden Magic, have expressed intent to violate a Royal Decree, and are currently disrespecting a Royal Guard.”

Neutral blinked at the list, though didn’t say anything. He really would rather get out of there, but something told him the guards had been speaking to him, Flux and Event as well as Moonlight.

“Oh?” Moonlight asked. “No, no, I telling her would happen, Starlight is only suspected of using Forbidden Magic, because to confirm it, you’d have to know it, which is against the law, I wasn’t the one violating the decree, and I’m giving you as much respect as you deserve,” Moonlight argued calmly.

The unicorn’s eye twitched, and the earther gaped, neither of which expecting such a biting retort. ”I will hold you in contempt,” the unicorn stated, stepping forward.

“I wouldn’t,” Moonlight said as a smile slowly made its way over her face. It was not a smile that Neutral liked the look of in the least. “You touch me, and you will not be using that hoof for a few months.”

“Threatening a Royal Guard,” the unicorn added, though didn’t make any other moves towards Moonlight, something about her smile unsettling him. To be fair, Neutral found the smile highly unsettling and he wasn’t even the one facing it.

“Promising,” Moonlight repeated with a smile. “I’m giving you a promise of what’s going to happen.”

“You will come with us,” the unicorn repeated. “So it’s your choice whether you come quietly, or you come cuffed.”

“You see, there’s a problem with that second choice,” Moonlight told him cheerfully. “I’m actually into mares.”

The unicorn’s face went red, though the way his face twisted, it obviously wasn’t from embarrassment. Before he could bring his body or any magic to bare any more than his single step forward, Moonlight was in motion, her wing firing up and out, the leading edge impacting the unicorn’s horn with an impressive sounding impact, causing the stallion to drop forwards as his hooves flew to his horn, his pained cry ringing out. Even as that happened, her other wing shot out and there was a rather nasty sounding crackle as she twisted his hoof on landing, the sound of breaking bone prominent.

Moonlight didn’t bother moving as the earther tackled her, just taking it as he quickly and professionally shacked her wings to her side and put the leg irons on her hooves. “You are under arrest for-“

“Assault of a Royal Guard. Don’t go any farther. I don’t care,” Moonlight cut him off, her voice back to perfectly calm. “So, lead the way.”

The earther glanced around at Neutral, Flux, and Event. “You three come along as well, please,” he said, deciding it was just easier to listen to Moonlight’s request. His tone was far less order-like than the unicorn’s as he began to lead the way. Neutral followed along behind, looking side to side to see Flux and Event doing the same, the unicorn behind them already being brought into the back of the hospital on a stretcher.

The earther brought them to the closest Guard Station in the city, one that just so happened to be a Police Guard one and left them in an interrogation room. The room was grey all over, with steel walls, a steel table, steel chairs, and a stone floor. It was only broken by the two way mirror on the one wall, and the brass doorknob.  Moonlight smirked at the three unicorns. “So, that was fun. What do you think they want?”